The invention relates to remote mechanical controls via cable, and may be applied to motor-vehicle equipment.
It relates more particularly to a device for retaining a sheath of a remote mechanical control via cable, in which the sheath is equipped with an end fitting which is suitable for being held on a support.
A remote control of this type usually comprises a sheath traversed by a cable which can be shifted in the sheath in an axial direction. The cable possesses two ends which are fastened respectively to an actuator and to a moveable element.
In one preferred application of the invention, the actuator is a rotary element of a control panel, while the moveable element is a flap forming part of a heating and/or air-conditioning installation of a motor vehicle.
In such a case, the sheath is equipped, at at least one of its ends, with an end fitting which is intended to be fastened to a support, for example to a control box. It is also possible for this end fitting to be located at the same end as the moveable element.
The end fitting is generally obtained by overmoulding onto the sheath and is provided in order to be fastened to the support in such a way that the corresponding end of the sheath is immobilized in a pre-defined position.
In the known devices of this type, the sheath is held on the support by way of a supplementary piece such as a screw, a staple, etc.
These known solutions consequently require a supplementary piece to be put in place, often requiring significant effort which is difficult to deploy, particularly on automatic assembly lines.
Moreover, the placing of this supplementary piece generally requires specific tooling, which increases the assembly times.
Furthermore, in the solutions of the prior art, the fixing of the sheath retains it rigidly on the support. This gives rise to difficulties in assembly, with stresses arising when the assembly is put in place. In fact twisting of the sheath may actually occur, which makes control via cable a more complicated matter.
The object of the invention is especially to overcome the abovementioned drawbacks.
The invention aims in particular to provide a device which makes it possible to retain such a control sheath by rapid-fixing means, which require neither a supplementary piece nor specific tooling, and which, furthermore, do not risk giving rise to twisting of the sheath.
To that end the invention proposes a device for retaining a sheath of a remote mechanical control via cable, the said sheath being equipped with an end fitting which is suitable for being held on a support, comprising an attachment molded integrally with the support and consisting of a base part arising from the support in order to delimit a housing for accommodating the fitting and of a cover linked to the base part by a film hinge, in such a way that the cover is able to pivot between an opening position for the insertion of the fitting and a locking position for trapping the fitting, and wherein, in the position for locking the cover, the end fitting is held in the housing, being immobilized axially and free in rotation
Thus, the invention provides an attachment produced in a single piece with the support and essentially comprising a base part arising from the support and a cover capable of pivoting by way of a film hinge.
This hinge makes it possible to be able to allow the sheath to position itself on fitting by turning on itself, because the end fitting and the sheath are free in rotation.
This aspect of free rotation is very important since, once the sheath is attached at each of its ends, it will position itself by rotation on itself.
Such a hinge is produced by a local thinning of the material between the base part and the cover, in order to obtain a deformable region. This results in the cover being able to pivot with respect to the base part, while being of a piece with the latter.
In that way, an attachment is obtained which forms an integral part of the support and which is therefore obtained with the latter during the molding, so that the sheath can be held on the support without it being necessary to have recourse to a supplementary component, nor to special tooling.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the cover is able to pivot over an angular interval of about 90xc2x0 between the opening position and the locking position.
The device of the invention advantageously comprises locking means for locking the cover onto the base part.
In one preferred embodiment, these locking means comprise a tab integral with the cover and suitable for becoming housed in an aperture of the base part in the locking position.
It is advantageous for the cover to be fitted internally with a retaining stop situated close to the film hinge and suitable for coming to bear behind an abutment rim formed within the base part, when the cover is in closed position.
This achieves additional security for the case where the film hinge might be accidentally damaged. This is because the end fitting of the sheath is held in the attachment even if the film hinge becomes broken.
According to another advantageous characteristic of the invention, the cover comprises a shaped inner wall suitable for defining a part of a cradle for accommodating the fitting.
In such a case, provision is advantageously made for the base part to define another part of this accommodation cradle.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the base part comprises a first wall to which the cover is linked and a second wall, opposite the first wall, and suitable for interacting with the cover for locking.
Advantageously, this second wall is capable of deflecting elastically when the cover is locked.
In this preferred embodiment, the base part further comprises two side walls, spaced apart and arranged between the first wall and the second wall so as to define a quadrangular structure.
Thus, these four walls define a sort of shaft amounting to a housing for the fitting of the cable.
The two abovementioned side walls advantageously define an internal spacing which corresponds to the axial length of the fitting.
Thus, when the fitting is placed in the housing, the two side walls form abutments limiting the axial movement of the fitting.
The fitting may adopt various forms. Thus it may have a generally axisymmetric shape, in particular a generally cylindrical shape, or may even include an external threading.
The support is advantageously formed by molding of a thermoplastic material, particularly of the polyethylene, polypropylene, ABS, etc. type.
The attachment of the invention is defined in such a way as to cope with the pull-off stresses dictated by the constructor. The necessity of resisting being pulled off is due to the fact that, in the event of the attachment being decoupled from the sheath and from its fixing support, it then becomes difficult to control a moveable element. This is the case especially in the control of the flaps of a motor-vehicle heating and/or air-conditioning installation.
In one preferred application of the invention, the support forms part of a control box of motor-vehicle equipment.